Men and Women Have Different Views on ‘Making Up’

We all know that conflict occurs in even the best of relationships. Although conflict is a natural experience, a new study finds a gender-specific difference in the preferred method to resolve disorder between romantic partners.

Researchers discovered that if a man wants to make amends with his girlfriend/wife after an argument, he should dedicate quality time and maybe even shed some tears while asking for forgiveness.

However, these are not the best ways for a woman to make up with her boyfriend; men consider a kind gesture or receiving sexual favors as the best form of apology.

In the new study, social psychologist Dr. T. Joel Wade of Bucknell University discovered showing emotional commitment is the best way of reconciling a conflict between romantic partners. However, there are systematic differences in how men and women prefer this to be put into practice.

Research findings appear in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Investigators divided the project into two parts. Participants were first asked via an online questionnaire to nominate specific actions that men and women engage in to reconcile with their partners after a fight.

The tactics were then grouped by the researchers into 21 categories of possible reconciliation behaviors.

The options given by the participants in Study 1 were then given to an additional group of men and women to ascertain which methods were preferred (most effective).

Investigators discovered that men, compared to women, rated a partner doing nice gestures and giving sex/sexual favors as more effective.

According to Wade, these findings are consistent with previous studies that showed that men prefer a partner who is sexually accessible.

“Women may thereby use sexual favors as a way to reconcile with their male partner,” said Wade.

“Doing so may communicate to their male partner that they are still sexually accessible and as such do not want to end the relationship.”

It was further found that women held it in high regard when a partner spent time with them after a conflict, apologized and even cried to show their remorse.

“Women may rate spending time together more highly because this behavior signals a partner’s willingness to invest effort and limited resources (e.g. time) into their romantic pair-bond,” Wade said.

“Such actions by a man may signal the likelihood of a potentially high parental investment which women prefer.”

Women also rated crying and apologizing as more effective methods of resolving conflict than men did.

According to Wade this might be because women view male partners who do so as being in touch with their emotions, without being feminine. Tears are seen as an honest signal of grief about a rocky relationship.

“Women may find the act of their male partner apologizing to be an effective reconciliation tactic because it is viewed as an altruistic act.

“A man’s apology may redirect the cost of romantic conflict to himself rather than to his partner and thereby demonstrate his ability to provide emotional support and incur personal costs for his partner,” Wade said.

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Rick Nauert PhD

Dr. Rick Nauert has over 25 years experience in clinical, administrative and academic healthcare. He is currently an associate professor for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals doctoral program in health promotion and wellness. Dr. Nauert began his career as a clinical physical therapist and served as a regional manager for a publicly traded multidisciplinary rehabilitation agency for 12 years. He has masters degrees in health-fitness management and healthcare administration and a doctoral degree from The University of Texas at Austin focused on health care informatics, health administration, health education and health policy. His research efforts included the area of telehealth with a specialty in disease management.

APA Reference Nauert PhD, R. (2017). Men and Women Have Different Views on ‘Making Up’. Psych Central.
Retrieved on May 24, 2018, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/07/06/men-and-women-have-different-views-on-making-up/122861.html

Last updated: 6 Jul 2017Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 6 Jul 2017Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.